Go Figure
by EvelioandZgroup
Summary: At 15, Gumball decided against his gut to go with his only friend from elementary, Carrie, to her friend's birthday. Taking this one trip has changed his life. Based on a True Story.


Go Figure

By

EvelioandZgroup

To Abigail, who really knows

Based on a True Story…I'm not lying.

P.S. It's mah burth-dah!

To my own advantage, I actually did the one thing we all should have done with our crush: reveal our feelings to them. Win or miss, you know how they feel about you.

This girl I knew, Penny, was something.

I met her on the way to Carrie's friend's birthday trip to downtown. _What a surprise?_ Carrie's friend would say. _Bring your friend that I don't even know to my birthday. WOOPEE!_

I went with Carrie since it would actually be a bit rude to just say no since she wanted me to come and meet her friends.

To her credit, she's doing me a favor: getting me out of the house on summer vacation. Why? Believe it or not, summer vacation is the worst time of the year for me. Why? It's hot; I'm alone, no friends to call or talk, or anything within that matter.

I do have friends, but not one do I ever try to contact with. I'm a natural-born loner in a world that decides to run me over, while I watch.

But, at least I got out.

I picked out a maroon shirt since I read a book where it could tell who you were by the birthday. It said my lucky color was maroon, so I picked it.

In fact, I brought the book with me on the trip. How nerdy that was.

It doesn't matter to me, anyway, friend. Brining a book to read on someone's birthday is bogus, but bringing a book that can spark some conversations and establish a good connection, giving me some delightful moments, can help.

I went over walking to Carrie's house, which made me walk over a huge truck driving cooperation entrance and exit. There has always been a wall separating my block that ran almost close to the gas station, which almost led to my school.

I had to make sure those trucks don't crush me when I had to cross. The entrance and exit were one, but had a big amount of space to cross. I saw the bright side on that since it reminded me that I was getting close to Carrie's house.

Carrie's mom doesn't enjoy boys around with her daughter. It's not that she thinks she is a gem and should be treasured forever. No, she wants her to have a secure future, without all the drama and sex and all that _Satanist_ crap, as she may refer to. I mainly don't judge it since it's pretty reasonable.

When I got there, I knocked on the door and waited.

Sure enough, Carrie came out and we greeted each other with a hug.

The funny thing is that we are only friends because we went to the same middle school and she knew my cousin. The idea that we were once freshman in high school and didn't know anyone else seemed pretty natural for us to just be best friends. School really should clean up what they intend for students.

After we hugged, we walked, heading to Elmore Metropolitan High School's bus/train stop, which connected to downtown. In Elmore, I always thought it really was stupid to be near that thing; it's a student's guarantee way for them to ditch school.

Just as we were walking, we had to go get a 1-DAY FUN PASS from the nearby Western Union. The weird thing was the fact that had raised it from $5 to $10! I would have slapped those idiots if they really think that's a good idea. That's just a good way to show that they want to scam us.

Either way, we had to buy it (_those bastards!_).

As we walked over to the bus stop, Carrie asked me about the book.

"Thought it could be something interesting to talk about," I said.

"What's it about?"

"You basically just see your birthday, and when you find your birthday in the book"—pointing at the book—"and it basically tells you about your life."

"Wow," she said. "That's something."

She read hers, and actually matched pretty well. She was a good person, tries to be friends, but things can backfire and she has to be careful. Sound about right? It should, but it's also very detailed about it. I don't think I could sum it up easier than that.

We kept walking until we reached the bus stop. Frankly, all that was in my mind was that I didn't sweat too much since the shirt I got was a bit too tight, but it had my lucky color, the book said, "maroon," then it is maroon. Maroon, save my day!

When we got in, we saw them, there were three of them: the birthday girl, Lexy, the best friend, Teri, and then there was Penny.

I saw her, and for some reason, I had actually stunned myself when I saw her. I couldn't help but see her. It really surprised me—but had a strong side affect that she intimidated me since she wore a bit all black, which is like me, but really out did me. She might mean business.

All through our little trip from the bus stop to downtown, we really had a good time. I really think that maybe that it was just something up with my stomach. I did however get a good impression on them when we were waiting for the train (which was above the bus stop). I showed them the book when they talked about what they were going to do. I asked if they wanted to see what her birthday is all about. I showed it to her and it was really something. It's also a bit funny when, in fact, today isn't her birthday. But, like good friends, they are celebrating it since it was on Monday, which wasn't all that fun.

_Damn you, Monday,_ I thought.

We got in the train, finally.

As we went in, I sat alone, where they all just sat or went by themselves, even if it is just five people in total. But I did notice something: Penny was their friend, not mine. Yeah, I know that's simple, but it's actually a bit weird for me. Why? Because it feels like I just came into someone's house and expect to be treated the same when I don't even know him or her.

It really did a number on me, because I wanted to be her friend.

I can't say for the most part that I didn't have fun. We went to many places: A Chocolate Place (that is what the store is called), clothing stores, the mall, and all sorts of places in downtown. I can't even begin to say how much fun I had in one store that was basically any "American" girl's dream: "Diagonal Direction" (doesn't help for the fact that they have solely destroyed making Great Britain look any better), "Rustin Hieber, all sorts of family-friendly stuff that makes you go berserk. But I will admit about them having some good things; one of the little things I liked was the mood ring. That just amazed me.

I saw Penny just press on one of them, mainly because it was the way it showed your emotions. I saw that it had turned red. She looked at what it meant, but went back to her friends.

I went over to check out what it means. I checked behind the tag, which told what each color meant. Red meant she was nervous. _Nervous_, I thought. _Why?_

Carrie called me out: "Gumball! Come over here!"

I went over, where they decided to look at the band's merchandise.

I wanted to forget about it, and I did. I'm not going to say I like that band to get some girl to like me. If she did like me, she would like me for me, not for some boy band. Any girl who does that is very selfish and obnoxious. I know since there was this one girl named Masami who craved Rustin Hieber. It didn't help that she matched every crazy girl fan stereotype. Only reason nobody picked on her because her uncle was the security guard at our school. One time she asked out this guy named Alan, who had a girlfriend, Carmen. He said no, and, believe it or not, she cried in the hallway. Were we supposed to feel sorry for her?

The answer was simple: No.

Did we make fun of her? No. Reason still applied: Her uncle was the security guard.

Did we have our moment? Well, we were in our classroom, which so happen she was in front of both doors across each room: 306 and 307. I swear someone had brought out some popcorn and ate it while watching her. How? I don't even know. Maybe I'm exaggerating it a bit, but it did happen—except maybe the popcorn.

Remembering this made me realize why I never wanted a relationship. I was cruel to girls. Sure, I have changed a lot since then, but I did that too when I was a kid.

Ever know the idea of a young kindergartener experiencing death? Ever knew the feeling of getting a restraining order at first grade from a bully? Ever felt the idea of being the new kid and being picked on for crying? Ever felt the pain of being just the idea of being pushed around and a punch line in third grade? Ever noticed you were getting so fat because of all the abuse and hate that it caused, including you failing school, and even from yourself? Ever know the feeling of being part of a comic book strip business that got a kid send to military school, made fun of by a midget, pissing off every girl because of a few insensitive jokes? Know how it feels like to be a dumb kid to never read books, while his parents fought every damn time in middle school? Know the fucking feeling of being someone's bitch in seventh grade, while leading to a small rebellion, but made you feel worthless? Eighth grade being the least you've been teased, but had thought about suicide?

I have. I have to live with that past that haunts me to this day. I don't deserve to even be near them, even Penny—or even the nickname they gave her: Tabby.

I nearly committed suicide this year, but I couldn't. I walked for a long time, most of the time in the alleyway, with my black sweater and listening to music. Parents didn't care.

I walked for a long time that some of the neighbors got scared and thought I was either a gangbanger or drug dealer. Because of that, three times the cops have come to my street. The first time, they just watched me from a distance. One was actually just a regular police car, but then another was behind it, and it was a SWAT Team Van. Second, when I was walking, they got to me in the alley, asked why I was walking.

"I like to walk alone, listening to music," I said.

They asked if I lived nearby, and I told where exactly I lived.

They went off, and I went to my dad to say what the police told me.

He told me that they could link it back to us and we could get into big trouble. He advised me (more like yelling) to not go walking outside in the alley again.

I disobeyed, and paid the price.

I walked for a while, and then one of the police cars stopped, right to where I was going. I checked from behind, and saw a police car coming at me. I didn't want to risk the chance of going to jail for nothing, so I ran away to a nearby empty home. I ran and kept jumping fences. I got away, but seeing this got me scared straight. What still confused me was why didn't they just go to my address? Maybe it was because of the fact I lived in the basement with my family and no one will answer to them at the front door.

When I went to the doctor's for the physical, it had turned out I had lost some weight.

After I graduated, I decided to keep it that way for 3 months: not eating and just walk. I lost over 90 pounds.

Now? I think hanging with these girls is better.

We even took a group picture at a clothing store, where we posed. Doing that upset my stomach, knowing that this isn't something I deserve. I know that for sure.

We went to eat at McCarthy, but I chose not to eat. I did it for both for the money, and because I enjoyed starving myself.

I learned Penny was a vegetarian. I knew that was something good, helping animals.

We rode the train home, where I had hugged everyone when we got back. Even Penny, but it was more like the train caused us to hug when it might have bumped into something. But it also felt like I saved her from falling.

When I was done with the trip, I walked Carrie to Kmart instead since we had time to do something random. That's where I bought some chips, mainly because they were on special.

I called my mom with Carrie's phone and she picked me up, while Carrie walked home since she wanted to and I had to wait for my mom to pick me up at the bus stop.

I tell you, I never thought I would see Penny ever again. I thought she was one of those friends who knew each other, but never hanged out often since they knew each from different schools.

That was until I got a friend request from her.

We talked a lot that first day, even if it was summer vacation.

I ended up getting friend request from the rest of them.

We talked on Elmore-book during the whole summer, ended up having our own goodbye. I rather not tell since it's only for us.

Then, one of the strangest things came to me, an anonymous account by the name "Louis Friend." I accepted it, anyway.

The message ended up telling me that one of the girls I had met with Carrie liked me. Like as in a crush—shouldn't be hard, right?

I didn't know how to take it.

Then, one of their friends, Teri told me that one of them liked me. To be very serious, I thought Teri liked me since she was the one who answered back. I was even given a choice to either go out with the crush, or pass it up.

I passed it up.

Then the first day of school came, which wasn't a good thing for me. I was always alone the first day, remembering all the names, which all drove me to insanity. That insanity went into me writing stories. I think that sounds good, right? I, Gumball, am a famous writer?

I think I can pull it off.

I ended finding out that she did go to my high school.

That amazed me. I toyed with the idea that maybe we could hang out sometime. But I always went against. Why? My life lesson from my cousin: "Never make the first move, let them come to you."

We kept talking on Elmore-book, but on October 22, something else happen.

We didn't stop talking—texts by the minute—on October 21, but we ended up asking each other if the other liked the other, what was their reaction to it.

We replied to the same answer: "That's good to know :)"

That night, just after midnight, we told each other how we felt about each other.

It makes me smile to this day to know that this one risk I took from hiding my emotions wasn't in vain. I ended up saying that I was going to kiss the most beautiful girl alive, while she said she was going kiss the most beautiful guy alive. I would have accepted "handsome" but all right.

Today was the day October 22, and I _could_tell you the year, but I want to prevent this from being dated. This type of romance is a bit dated already, but it's very true.

I did what I was asked to do: I got out after my 9th period class and went to the basketball court where a small tree stood, while cars parked my view of even seeing her. I know that because those cars blocked me from seeing if there was even a tree to begin with.

I did wonder if this was real, even if this small moment of doubt was proven false, how I could not consider it. I mean, yeah, I had _bad_ relationships in the past. Who's to say this won't be any different.

I decided to not go from the back, and instead from the front of the school. I felt I needed time for it to sink in, and if she wasn't there or anything I could just walk home alone. I can't even begin to tell you how my heart started to beat faster as I started to get around to the end of the school. I wasn't even sure if she was even there (Along with that, I got kind of confused on which tree she meant since there are two, so I would go to that tree and see if she was there or no; if not, I'd go to the other.).

I made it, but looked at the tree.

No one was there.

I turned to the right. And, as crazy as it seems, I saw her waiting on the edge. Was it worth it to around the school when indeed there was nothing to worry about? Yes. I needed that reassurance.

I walked over, as if I had come from the door and straight to her. I wanted to surprise her, but she saw me. It was almost as if she had this radar to know if I was nearby.

We did this little thing where we just lacked efforts in our waving-our-hands-to-say-hello thing. We hugged—I remembered that she had told me that this was her first relationship. In a way, it was mine too; it was one I really wanted.

We decided to walk _counter_-clockwise (hit me for trying to be edgy).

Penny and I started to talk about things, and I don't want to give some of it away since I'm not one to say personal things like hers—she trusted me not to tell. I will tell you about one thing, even if it might be too personal, but it's one that I'm not afraid to talk about: kissing.

We started to talk about the idea that if we're going to kiss, but we kind of drifted from it and realized that the movies we saw as kids lied to us, since it wasn't all that easy. We had an early attempt, but it ended as a hug. It was under a tree by the tennis court.

Eventually, we both knew that we just needed to be more comfortable with each other.

We talked more about our personal lives, ones that are more about to get to know a person better. Her mom was older than her dad, while she didn't treat her well. But her dad loved her. It's like mine, but it's my mom as the hero.

We walked around the whole park maybe six times, but we tried again when we were near yet another tree; it was one that shined on the star athletes. It left us to go alone in the dark. Privacy was the key. But even that didn't help us. We just hugged.

"Man, I really _hate_ those movies," I said, which made her laugh.

We began walking again, but this time we came to a different idea at the time: Death.

"What do you think happens after we die?" I asked.

"I believe in reincarnation," she said.

"How would that work?"

"I don't know. I like the idea that we have our own little place when we die."

"I think it's because of how some people are similar to others, but we can't tell since they die and another was born, where we can't tell the difference yet since we have to wait for it."

We were intrigued by it, but mostly because felt comfortable with each other.

This third time was all or nothing.

We were under a tree—it doesn't help that it reminded me that our entire attempts failed under a tree—and we were about to kiss, but we both stopped. Shied away for a second and hugged.

I told her in her ear, "I feel we just missed our shot."

"I know," she said in mine.

We turned to each other, our eyes connected.

We went in, slowly. We kissed.

I think this went on for 10, maybe 20 seconds, until we stopped and hugged each other (or just curled up to the other's shoulder).

"That was beautiful," she said.

I asked, "Want to do it again?"

"Yes," she said, and we did.

I still couldn't believe this was happening.

After we ended that kiss, I asked her for another time. This time, I will admit, I had my eyes open. I had to know if this wasn't a dream. When I did, I saw her, how she looked with her eyes closed. She looked peaceful, calm, and beautiful. I couldn't help but smile and get all cheesy inside (the amount of cheese I had inside would have stopped world hunger).

I closed my eyes, as we did in our three kisses.

We ended it, and realized that it was time for her to go. I walked her to the street since that was as far as I could go. When we walked and talked, I reached out for her hand, and she saw it. She put her hand onto mine.

We held that way until we made it to the street.

We hugged each other and said goodbye.

As she walked away, I turned back to see her one more time before she left. When she did walk away, I saw that this was just one day beginning something beautiful. I felt like I meant something to this world.

Maybe the world isn't so harsh on me. Why? It gave me her.

I guess it's true: "You kiss a few losers, until you kiss the right one."

That's a lesson I can live by.

I walked home, knowing that I won't forget the date. I never will.

THE END


End file.
